I’m not a fan of instrumental music. As I’ve said multiple times before, I’m all about the lyrics. I want something I can relate to, something I can sing along to. That being said, It’s not like I avoid instrumental shows, I just don’t search them out. Last night I saw an instrumental band that I will definitely be following and going to see every time they come to town.
Chon was jaw dropping and astonishing last night. I was stopped in my tracks, I was stunned.. all by this four piece instrumental band. I saw these guys last March with Animals as Leaders and I remember they were awesome but for some reason I never kept up with them it’s almost like they blended in too much at that show due to so many other instrumental bands on the bill. Last night Chon was sandwiched in between two bands with vocals which, I think, helped make them shine even brighter.
Chon is a fairly new band to the scene having only released one full length, studio album and only having toured a couple of times now. Regardless, they had the near sold out crowd of The Triple Rock completely captivated last night with their pure talent. The way these boys can play is unreal. There are sweeping guitar parts that you get dizzy from just listening to, let alone watching. I’m all about movement at a show but I couldn’t help but to just stand there with my jaw on the ground, not moving an inch.
Their style is like none other that I’ve heard. It’s metal one second with the drummer doing a blast beat but over said blast beat is a jazzy guitar riff that sounds straight out of something my dad would listen to. It was chaos in the best way. The guitars don’t match the beat of the drums, the bassist is in the corner doing his own thing, nothing makes sense, but it works, and it works brilliantly.
The headliner for the night was The Dear Hunter. The Dear Hunter is Casey Crescenzo’s brain child that I don’t think anyone expected to take off like it did. Crescenzo is the singer for The Receiving End of Sirens (R.I.P). He has the kind of voice where when you hear him sing, you know exactly who it is.
I’m conflicted after last night. I was, and always will be, a huge TREOS fan and never really listened to The Dear Hunter. I guess I was a little bitter and I tend to hate side projects because I’m always wanting that original band. Last night made me feel like a complete idiot. How have I not been listening to The Dear Hunter non-stop?!
The Dear Hunter’s sound is completely different than that of TREOS but it’s amazing. It has much more of a theatrical sound and is much more animated in a way. Even though The Dear Hunter has six different full length albums out, they did an awesome job of playing both old songs from back in 2006 all the way up to songs off of their newest release that just came out last week. No matter what album the song was from, it was catchy, it was great, and most of all, it was fun.
Their songs are heavy, but not too heavy. You could call their music indie, progressive rock, experimental rock, post-hardcore.. whatever you can think of, they fit it. It keeps you on your toes because every song sounds completely different but Crescenzo’s voice stays constant. It didn’t matter if they were playing a fast or slow song, everyone’s head was bobbing and I’m sure the toes were tapping.
The members of The Dear Hunter seemed to be completely shocked at the size of the crowd. The Triple Rock is not a huge venue by any means, but it is a decent sized club and it was a Sunday. The show was only a handful of tickets away from selling out. I hope that this means they will be back to visit again soon!
Line Up:
Venue: Triple Rock
Sausage Fest Meter- 8 out of 10
Crowd Surfers- 1 idiot kid who jumped from the stage during Chon’s last song
Broken Bones- None
Drunkards Taken Out By Security- None
Found in the Pit- None- It was a calm show
Leave a Reply